While wireless connectivity is becoming more and more prevalent, many networks today still utilize cables to transfer signals and information from one resource to another. In large networking environments, the management of wires and cables to various switches can become a quite complex task due to the number of devices and ports involved. For example, a large data center may have thousands of cables running between the various devices. If one or more of those cables becomes unplugged, it can be difficult to determine which port and device that cable was originally connected to. Furthermore, when adding new devices to the network, it is not always readily apparent to a technician how those new devices should be wired into the existing network elements.
One conventional way to address some of the issues in network cabling is to create a cut sheet that specifies how each resource in the network is connected to other resources. The cut sheet can be entered into a computer or database, which can be subsequently used to automatically determine where a device or wire should be connected to. However, due to the large number of devices and cables involved, creating a cut sheet can be a tedious task, requiring specialized knowledge and expertise. In addition, because cut sheets are typically created by network architects or technicians, they can be quite prone to human error.